15 Things We Learned This Week (21/03/14)

Rust from ‘True Detective’? Do us a favour. Sherlock? Pah! This week, Courtney Love put all other sleuths to shame when she finally, erm, ‘solved’, the mystery of the missing Malaysian airlines flight. Love – who humbly admitted she was “no expert” – shared her findings with the aid of an annotated screengrab on Facebook. Here’s 14 more things we learned this fine week.

Credit: Courtney Love/Twitter

2/15

Rejoice fans of Kate Bush! The legendary singer-songwriter has confirmed that she will tour again, and is set to play her first live shows since 1979 in London this August and September.

Credit: Press

3/15

Liam Gallagher has taken to running backwards in order to stay in peak physical shape. Reports claim that onlookers spotted that singer trying out the unusual exercise method, known as retro running, in North London. “I thought it was a bit rich for a millionaire who sings to fans about ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’ to be taking his fitness that seriously,” said one witness.

Credit: Dean Chalkley/NME

4/15

Let’s hope that Madonna has some cash stashed away for a rainy day, because MIA’s approached the singer cap-in-hand. The singer has asked Madonna to help her out after the NFL demanded she pay them $16.6m (£9.1m) in compensation for flipping the bird during Madge’s Super Bowl half-time show in 2012.

Credit: Shamil Tanna/NME

5/15

Damon Albarn’s got a ton of famous friends, of course, but that doesn’t take away from how special and star-studded his performance at this month’s SXSW was: Snoop Dogg, De La Soul and Gorillaz collaborators Dan the Automator and Del the Funky Homosapien all joined him onstage.

Credit: Getty

6/15

Fans have launched a campaign to turn late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain’s childhood home into a museum. His mother, Wendy O’Connor, put the property on the market last year in the hope that someone would buy and transform it into a memorial – and now it looks like she’s going to get her wish.

Credit: Getty

7/15

And the week’s prize for most bizarre picture goes to One Direction, who’ve dressed up like ‘80s glam rockers for a special Record Store Day release. What has been seen cannot be unseen.

Credit: Press

8/15

Peace’s Harry Koisser has been promising that the world will get to hear his flow on the band’s next album, after telling NME that the follow-up to ‘In Love’ will feature him rapping. “I don’t want to give much away, but i rap on a song on our new record,” he let slip. “We listened to [Blondie’s] ‘Rapture’ before we approached the song from the demos.”

Credit: Ed Miles/NME

9/15

43rd Annual Grammy Awards – Show

And Harry isn’t the only one to be going hip-hop, either. Veteran singer Elton John has set his sights on a collaboration with Kanye West and described hanging out with the rapper as being “in the presence of greatness”.

Credit: Getty

10/15

One of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top aides has shrugged off having his assests frozen by the US by saying the only good things to come out of America are cultural. “This is a big honour for me. I don’t have accounts abroad. The only things that interest me in the US are Tupac Shakur, Allen Ginsberg and Jackson Pollock. I don’t need a visa to access their work. I lose nothing.”

Credit: Getty

11/15

On the week Fred Phelps died, Lorde told fans to kiss Westboro Baptist Church members picketing her gig. In a series of tweets, which have since been deleted, the singer also asks audience members to wear rainbow colors in support of gay rights.

Credit: Press

12/15

Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor is to be the subject of a comedy roast. The roast will be led by Sebastian Bach with Scott Ian of Anthrax and Taylor’s own bandmate M Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan set to be involved. “Honestly, I don’t know what to say. I’m a little nervous, a little excited, and of course a little gassy. But that could just be the excitement,” said Taylor, in a statement.

Credit: Andy Ford/NME

13/15

In this week’s top roofing news, it turns out Neil Young once bought 20,000 copies of his own album to build a barn roof. I made a barn roof out of them. I used them as shingles.” Ingenious.

Credit: Getty

14/15

Seemingly bored of bumblebees already, Happy Mondays’ Bez took part in an anti-fracking demonstration as his campaign to run for MP in Salford in 2015 began in earnest. The former dancer received a warm welcome and shared vegan-friendly wheat beer with some of the 60 activists based permanently at the camp.

Credit: Getty

15/15

Kanye West has pleaded no contest and been sentenced to two years probation for assaulting a photographer at an airport in Los Angeles. West, who was not present in court, submitted a special plea through his attorney in which he maintains his innocence. Until next time, folks.